lpress writes: "If you lived in Riga, Latvia, you would not have to "cut the cord" to see video entertainment at a reasonable cost. You would simply get a triple play subscription with 20 Mbps up and 5 Mbps down from service provider Balti-Com for $25.43 USD. Balti-Com had the lowest triple pay price in a New America Foundation report The Cost of Connectivity, which compares prices charged by 885 ISPs in 22 cities worldwide.

The report found that five of the cheapest 15 triple play offerings were in Paris — the fruit of competition between ISPs. With the Telecommunication Act of 1966, the US Congress hoped to foster similar competition, but failed. As study co-author Benjamin Lennett says, US telephone and cable companies have arranged a “negotiated truce” in which cable incumbents enjoy a de facto monopoly on high-speed broadband service, while Verizon and AT&T focus primarily on their wireless platforms.

In addition to triple play prices, the report surveyed the best available Internet plan for approximately $35 USD and the fastest Internet available in each city."